One of The Boys
by BabbleBaby
Summary: Nathan isn’t happy when Haley decides they need a night apart – especially when he realises she’ll be hanging around other boys. Mid season1


**Title:** One of The Boys

**Rating:** T/3 (Just for some swearing)

**Timeline:** Somewhere between 1.12 and 1.13 – Deb has already thrown Dan out, but Nathan is still living at home.

**Summary:** Nathan isn't happy when Haley decides they need a night apart – especially when he realises she'll be hanging around other boys. (Mid season1)

**Author Note:** I'm sorry this isn't an update for one of my WIPs, I've been really struggling with those lately so I thought I'd try my hand at something new, and what do you know? I actually finished!!

I really hope to get updates out soon. My New Years resolution is to update more regularly!

Big thank you to **Becky **for beta-ing this piece for me! Happy New Year everyone!

* * *

"Haley." Looking up from where she'd been laughing with Mouth who was sitting at a window table, Haley nodded at Deb as she motioned over to her, a sad smile on the older woman's face as she held up the receiver in her hand. "It's Nathan."

"Hi," She breathed into the phone, cursing herself for how much like a girl she sounded...how much like a girl she felt. Granted, on more than one occasion, Nathan had shown her just how much he liked the fact that she was a girl, but this girlie girl that transpired around him wasn't a person she was used to being. She'd been one of the guys as long as she could remember, but he just had to look at her with those hypnotising baby blues and she'd giggle, bite her lip and twirl a strand of her thick auburn hair. Boy did she have it bad.

"Hey yourself," He laid back, pausing the video game he hadn't thought important enough to stop playing until it was Haley on the phone, and stretched his long legs out before him, resting them on his mother's precious cherry wood coffee table. She was bending over backwards to please him since she'd thrown Dan out, so she wouldn't dare to mention a scuff mark or two. "What you doing?"

"Well," She laughed, and he could practically see the way her full lips turned up into a wide smile, and especially the way her full breasts jiggled enticingly. Haley didn't do girlish coy giggles. She laughed whole heartedly, whole bodily. It was a prevailing reason Nathan loved making her laugh. He was a teenage boy after all, a teenage boy with a gorgeous girlfriend whose laughter rewarded him with some tantalising visual rewards. "I'm working. Which you should well know considering you called me at work."

"Ah, right, work." He was smirking, she could hear it. "Well, what time do you get off? My Mom's been driving me crazy so I was thinking I could pick you up and we could go see a movie or something. Maybe go back to your house, take advantage of the fact your parents are out of town for the weekend..."

"Because that's such a break from the norm." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm but Nathan could hear the hurt that lay beneath that. He'd only known Haley a short while, but one of the biggest questions he had about her was how her parents were able to spend so much time away. At first he'd wondered what kind of parents trusted their sixteen year old not to get into trouble, but the more he got to know her, the more his wondering became about how they could bear to be away from her for so long, so often. He'd dabbled a little in recreational drugs, and then there was his recent experimentation with amphetamines, but he'd never come across anything half as addictive as Haley James.

"Hales..." He never really knew what to say to her when she was like this, and usually she didn't give him a chance to say anything at all before she bounced back to her usually happy self. This caring for someone the way he cared for her was still new territory for him, but it didn't stop this overwhelming urge to make her feel better from coming over him. "They'll be back next week, babe."

He was cursing himself for his lame attempt at cheering her up, unaware of the warmth that swept through his girlfriend's body. There were a lot of things Nathan did that turned Haley on, some so much she sometimes worried she'd get so lost in him she'd do things she knew she wasn't ready for, but none so instantly as when he said those sweet things, in that caring tone of voice she knew only she heard him use.

She didn't have time to respond before a voice called her attention over to the cash register where a boy who'd been in the cafe with his family for the last hour or so... and she guessed to be slightly older than her... gave her that subtle boy nod that let her know he wanted her attention. Glancing around the cafe, she sighed when she saw Deb taking a group of familiar elderly woman's order that Haley knew would keep the older woman busy for at least the next twenty minutes, and Joanne, the other waitress on duty, nowhere in sight. "Hang on a minute, Nathan, duty calls."

Placing the phone down on the counter next to her, Haley gave her best 'I'm not annoyed my work is messing with my personal life' smile, and took the proffered bill from the boy's hand. "So, that's $36.73, unless you wanted anything else?"

"Only your phone number, _Haley_?" The way he said her name made her shudder in disgust. Had done so ever since she'd introduced herself to his party when asking if they'd wanted any drinks, and he'd laid back so casually in his chair it screamed over inflated ego as he looked her up and down and had drawn out her name as he asked for a coke.

"Oh, I don't think my boyfriend would be too pleased with that." Haley replied, snatching the bills out of his hand and putting the charge through the register, her hand clasping unconsciously onto the phone next to her.

"He wouldn't have to know." He winked at her, a wink that had her seeing into his dirty old man future, and she grimaced as she thrust his change into his palm.

"Thanks, but I'll pass. Have a good day." She turned away, leaning against the counter as she brought the phone back to her ear. "Sorry about that. What were you saying?"

"Who was that?" His voice was low, and dark, and gravelly in a way that took Haley aback. He was angry, really angry. At her? He'd been pissed off at her before, sure, like the time she'd accidently stepped on and broken one of his CDs, although really that had been his own fault for living in such a pigsty of a room, but she'd never heard the venom that was clear in his tone in the moment.

"Uh, a customer. Look, sweetie, I'm sorry I had to go for a sec but you did call me at work, and I'm not going to slack off at work to speak on the phone with my boyfriend, especially with Karen away and..."

"He knew your name." He growled, his fist clasped so tightly around his cell phone it was going to leave ridges when he finally let go. But he didn't care about the way the metal was digging into his flesh. He'd just witnessed some punk hitting on his girl, in front of him. "He asked for your number."

Blinking as her brow wrinkled in confusion and a frown formed on her lips, Haley stepped further away from the dining patrons. "He knew my name because his family was sitting in my section. I introduce myself to all the customers, and he'd probably have asked for your Mom's number if she'd served him. He was just being a flirt, Nathan."

"Yeah, with my girlfriend." He snapped, unable to understand why she didn't get that this was a big deal. He'd noticed the other guys at school giving her a once or twice over, and although it annoyed him, he knew he didn't have to worry. There were things he hated about his unofficial crowning as the king of Tree Hill High, but knowing that no other guy would even dream of hitting on Haley certainly wasn't one of them. He'd forgotten about the rest of them.

Biting her lip to reel in the smirk that had slowly formed as the truth had dawned on her, Haley shuffled from foot to foot giving a small self-satisfied dance of achievement. "Well, I never thought I'd see the day. Nathan Scott, are you jealous?"

"No I'm not fucking jealous." He bit back forcibly, forgetting who he was talking to as the harsh curse fell from his lips.

"Excuse me?" She choked out in disbelief, running over the last few minutes in her mind to confirm that yes he had gone from sweet and caring to swearing at her for no reason at all. "Some guy asked for my number? So what? Believe it or not, you're not the first boy ever to show an interest."

"I'm right here, and he hits on you." Nathan threw the nerf basketball in his hands angrily against the wall, causing it to land next to him with a soft, barely audible thud as he gritted down on his teeth. He knew he shouldn't be talking to her in this tone of voice, and yeah she was probably right that he was jealous, but he didn't care. He was pissed – and she was his, damnit!

"You were on the other end of the phone Nathan! He was a sleeze but I really doubt his pervy stare gives him the ability to see through phone lines!"

"So he was perving on you as well as asking for your number? Is he still there now? I'll come down and give him some fucking stars to look at!"

"Okay, first stop cursing at me for two minutes and think about what you're saying." The hand that wasn't holding onto the phone was gesticulating wildly and had she turned around she'd have seen it catching both Deb and Mouth's eyes as she hissed into the phone mindless of where she was, "and second, I think he was more interested in your mother's chest than mine!"

"You didn't answer my question." Nathan continued, ignoring the subject of his mother's bossom entirely. There was no way he was even going to entertain the idea of some guy comparing his Mom's and Haley's chest, because putting them in the same category was too disgusting to comprehend. "Is he still there?"

"Oh for gods sake Nathan, no he just left, and it's not like I gave him my phone number. He asked, so what? Believe it or not, you're not the first boy to ever express interest in me. The point is, and if you heard the rest I'm sure you heard this," She stopped, breathing deeply to calm herself before she burst into tears or threw the pile of flats in front of her flying across the cafe, "I didn't give him my number. In fact I even told him I had a boyfriend."

He felt awful. He could hear the quivering in her voice, and when he closed his eyes to calm himself he could see her big brown eyes filling with tears. She was right. He was jealous and, even though she'd told the guy she had a boyfriend, he just couldn't help it. The idea of possibly having to compete for her affection caused unfamiliar feelings of self doubt to build up inside of him. If he had to compete there was always the, albeit outside, chance that he could lose, and he was already hands up a full on Haley James addict. He let out a deep calming breath before speaking again. "Baby, don't cry, I'm sorry."

"I'm not crying." She answered, even though him telling her not to had caused her to well up. "I didn't give him my number, Nathan."

"I know, I'm a jealous dick. Do you forgive me?" Forgiveness had never been something he cared for in the past but with Haley it was different. He always wanted to know she saw him at his best. One night he'd accidently spilt soda down the front of her shirt, and when he'd eventually dragged his eyes away from the translucentness of the now soaked material, he'd spent the rest of the night grovelling for her forgiveness, much to her amusement.

She could see the playful pout on his lips, the puppy dogged eyes he put on that always made her giggle at how out of place they looked on his strong handsome features. "Yes, I forgive you."

She could never stay mad at him for long, a fact she was sure she'd rue as their relationship went on, but she had to admit it was kind of a thrill for someone as good looking and as wanted as Nathan Scott to get jealous over her, and over something as simple as a flirtatious customer.

"Good, now let me make it up to you." He brought the conversation back around to its familiar point. "I'll pick you up and take you out to dinner. How does that sound?"

"It sounds wonderful." She said, turning back around to the nearly empty cafe ready to tell him she finished in an hour but wanted to go home first to prepare herself for a night of being spoilt, when she saw Skills come through the door and sit down next to Mouth. "But I can't tonight."

"Haley, i said I was so—"

"And I forgive you." She promised, stopping him before he could start. "But last night you said you had plans tonight and so I've made my own."

"So cancel them." He stated, no question behind his words.

"I can't!" She shook her head, knowing that he wouldn't like that answer, but she was actually looking forward to a night out with her friends.

"Why not? Just tell them something came up."

"Nathan, I'm not going to lie to my friends!"

"So tell them the truth." He shrugged, not caring what she told them, as long as he got to see her tonight.

"Nathan, I made plans, I'm going to stick to those plans." She sighed, knowing he wasn't going to like it. They saw each other most every day now, but she wasn't going to be one of those girls who forgot about her friends just because she had a boyfriend.

"Fine." She heard the familiar sounds of NBA live coming through the phone and knew he'd checked out, sulking.

"You know you could spend time with your Mom. She seemed kind of put out that you barely said more than hi to her before speaking to me..."

"Yeah I'll do that." His voice was laced with sarcasm. There was a reason he'd cut his mom off mid-story and demanded she put Haley on the phone. He didn't want to speak to her then, and he didn't want to now, and hadn't Haley heard him when he'd said his mom had been pissing him off lately? "I'll see you, Haley. Have fun with your girlfriends."

"Uh, Boyfriends..." Haley answered tentatively. She could have just left it at that but an omission was a lie as far as she was concerned, and she promised herself when things started to get serious between her and Nathan that she'd never lie to him.

"What?" He thrust his thumb down on the pause button, the room immediately filling with silence. "What do you mean boy-friends?"

"Well, you said have fun with your girl-friends, and I don't really have girl-friends, I have boy-friends. As in friends who are boys. I'm going to the movies with Mouth and Skills..."

"Who?"

"You know Mouth. He does the game commentary." She explained, holding up a finger and giving an apologetic smile to Joanne when she made a hurry up motion to Haley as she took a tray of drinks over to a table in Haley's section.

"The geek?" He questioned, trying to recall which of Lucas' dweeby buddies he'd seen Haley hanging around with. If he didn't think they posed any kind of a threat, he didn't pay much attention to the people Haley hung around with. He figured if he didn't know them already, they probably weren't worth knowing, and besides, he was too busy looking at Haley.

"Nathan!" If he thought Mouth was a geek did he classify her as one too? It certainly sounded like a bad thing the way he'd said it just then. "They're my friends."

"Yeah whatever." He snapped, that rapidly becoming familiar feeling of jealously welling up inside of him. "Have fun with your _boy_-friends. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Mouth open, Haley starred at the handset, the dial tone loud enough she could hear it even as she held the phone in her hands. Had he just hung up on her?

"Oh, has he gone?" Deb asked, walking behind the counter and taking the phone out of Haley's hand when she nodded mutely. "Are you coming to our house tonight? Because I can bring you back with me. There's really no point in Nathan coming out to get you."

"Uh, no." Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Haley sighed, deciding to focus on the tasks at hand, and having fun with her friends. She'd call Nathan when she got home to find out what his problem was. "I'm going to the movies with some friends after work, so I'll just see him tomorrow or something."

"Oh, okay." Deb was admittedly surprised. It seemed her son and the pretty girl before her were attached at the...well she hoped not at the hip. As good as she thought Haley was for Nathan she thought their relationship was getting a little too serious for their age, and it was relief to know they could spend a day apart. "Well, if you want you can take off now. You've only got about an hour left on your shift, and things are slow enough that Jo and I can deal with it before your cover gets here."

"Oh," Haley blinked, well, it would be a lot easier to distract herself from her moody boyfriend with Skills and Mouth, than with making another ten rounds of burgers and fries. "Well, if you're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Go, have fun. I'll see you tomorrow."

Untying her apron before the older woman had a chance to reply, Haley flung it under the counter and grinned, waving as she made her way over to her friends. "Thanks Deb!"

........

"Why so quiet, Shorty?" Skills asked, throwing his arm over Haley's shoulder as they stood outside the multiplex.

"No reason." Haley smiled up at him, calmed by the familiarity of the position. She never wanted to be one of those girls so wrapped up in their relationship they couldn't function when something was going wrong, but Nathan had never hung up on her before, and there had been an uncomfortable sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach ever since. She couldn't bear to think he was mad at her even if she knew she'd done nothing wrong. Why shouldn't she have a night out with her friends regardless of their sex, or if Nathan was bored with nothing to do? She was a person outside of Nathan & Haley, she had a life away from her boyfriend, and she wanted to keep it that way. If only she could convince the part of her mind that keep replying their conversation in her head to believe that. Over and over it went round and round her brain and she felt like she was on a rollercoaster that just kept going up and down as she swooned over his jealousy and listened confused to the dial tone ringing in her ears.

"Yeah, Haley, you've been really quiet." Mouth spoke up from his place on the other side of her, jabbing his elbow playfully into her waist."That's not like you."

"I'm sorry guys, it's nothing, I promise, and I'll even speak all the way through the movie just to prove it." She grinned, perusing the title list in front of them. "What do you want to see?"

"You should go to the 7 o'clock" A familiar voice dents at Haley's recently reaffirmed good mood. "That's what we're going to see."

"Yeah Dawgs you should so come with us." Tim's wording causes incredulous looks from both Mouth and Skills, who's just about falling over laughing at this skinny white kid using the word dawg, but Haley can't stop herself staring at her boyfriend, who's smirking at her as he grabs a handful of popcorn and shoves it into his mouth.

"You want some baby?"

"What are you doing here?" Haley hissed, glancing over her shoulder to see Tim, Mouth and Skills getting on like a house on fire. Huh, who knew?

His eyes twinkled smugly as he took a step toward her, her arms crossed defiantly in front of her chest. His mom had come home to find him sulking in the living room, and low and behold had in fact chewed him out for scuffing his shoes on the cherry wood, but she'd also let him in on a bit of valuable information. Haley was heading to the movies straight from work. He'd come to terms with the fact he was jealous, of the dickhead from the cafe earlier, and of her having boy-friends. It was new, and it was unfamiliar, and he'd admit only to himself that it scared him shitless, but he was still Nathan Scott, and he certainly wasn't going to let some pansy-assed fear get the better of him. So he stopped by Tim's, because really he didn't want to look too obvious, and headed over to the theatre. They'd just got done at the concession stand when he heard her laughter above it all, and turned to see her flanked by two boys as they entered the building. "Seeing a movie, Hales, same as you."

She narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at him. As bigheaded as she worried it made her sound he had to be here because of her. He gets in a huff because she's going out with friends and then just happens to turn up at the same movie theatre? At the same time? That's too much of a coincidence, even in Tree hill. "Are you following me?"

"Following you? I was here before you."

He had a point. She chewed on the inside of her cheek trying to stop that realisation showing on her open features. "Well, it doesn't matter. We're going to see a different movie anyway."

She turned, surprised that instead of being behind her ,Skills and Mouth were walking back toward them. "I got your ticket, Haley."

"Well, 7 o'clock, would you look at that?" Nathan winked at Haley who huffed up at him as he wrapped an arm securely around her waist. "Hold the popcorn babe while I pay your friend back."

"I can pay for my own ticket, Nathan!" She huffed, cursing his strength as he held her securely by her waist so she didn't have a chance to reach for her wallet before Tim had taken Nathan's treats away from him, and her boyfriend handed over a $10 bill to Skills. "This is ridiculous, you can't pay for my ticket when we're not even going to a movie together!"

"Well, problem solved. We'll sit with you guys. C'mon," Allowing Nathan to steer her toward the screen, Haley rolled her eyes imagining what Skills and Mouth were thinking of her now. Being so weak as to allow her boyfriend to crash on their hang out time, and they didn't even know she wasn't even pleased with him at this time.

"Oh, so now you want to spend time with me, but I couldn't even get a goodbye earlier." She mumbled

"Aw, I'm sorry baby. I was just disappointed I didn't get to spend time with you." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her head as he handed the teen manning the door their tickets, basketball talk heard behind them from their three companions.

"You're not even trying to sound sincere." She plopped down in her seat, stealing the M&M's she knew were for her out of Nathan's jacket pocket as he sat beside her, tearing into them. Chocolate was definitely a must right now.

"Maybe not, but aren't we all happy now? I get to spend time with you, and you," he looked down the line of seats behind them , tipping his head at Skills who was watching them curiously, "get to spend time with your _boy_-friends."

"You can be such an ass sometimes." She spat out, and to think she'd only 20 minutes earlier wanted to call him to make things right. Right now all she wanted to do was ring his neck.

"Shush, the movies starting."

"You hate previews." She turned in her seat, her eyes narrowing as she glared at him, but he didn't take his eyes off the screen.

"And you love them. C'mon babe, we'll play guess the movie." He grabbed her hand, entwining it with his own and bringing it to his lips, kissing it lightly.

"Nathan!" She hissed. Was he really just going sit there and act like this was just another date and that she hadn't practically abandoned her best friends with his part-time best friend, part-time lap boy Tim?

The movie was torture for Haley...120minutes of Nathan over-playing the dutiful boyfriend, and questioning looks from Skills and Mouth while she seethed and stuffed herself with so much chocolate she was actually feeling a little queasy by the time they were back in the lobby.

"Well, guys, it was great getting to know you, but it's time I get Haley home." Nathan hadn't let go of having some kind of physical hold on her the entire movie, and he still had a tight clutch on her hand as he said this. He knew she was annoyed with him, she'd definitely made no secret of it as she'd huffed and puffed her way through the movie, but it was better for her to be annoyed at him while he sat beside her in a darkened movie theatre, than for him to be sitting at home imagining what could be going on as she sat in said dark theatre with two boys who weren't blind, and therefore had to know she was attractive, probably knew her better than him, and definitely weren't fans of his.

As if he'd been reading Nathan's mind, Skills scoffed and shook his head, eyeing the taller boy up and down.

"You got a problem man?" Nathan asked. This boy hadn't stopped looking over at Haley the whole movie and he better not think Nathan hadn't noticed.

"Getting to know us? You don't know us, and you don't know Haley if you thought you had to follow her out here. She's the most trustworthy person I know and you're a fool if you don't know that."

"You have no clue about Haley and me," Nathan growled, his fists balling in preparation of making contact with the African American boy's face. He can think what he wants about Nathan, but he didn't get to question his relationship with Haley.

Grabbing on to her boyfriend's bicep, Haley tried to pull him back from where he was stepping toward her friend, anger radiating off him. She smiled over at Skills, trying to convey her gratitude for his words. Even if they did rile Nathan up, it was sweet of him to come to her defence. "Nathan c'mon, please."

Starring down into Haley's eyes, Nathan felt himself begin to calm as her small hand trailed down his arm and clasped his own.

"You going to be okay going home with him, baby girl?"

Nathan stopped, wrenching his palm from Haley's grasp and turning back toward Skills. A growl sounded from somewhere deep in his throat, unable to believe he'd just heard what he'd heard. "What did you just call her?"

"Oh, get over it man. We're just friends. Even if I do think you're not worth her looking at, she's clearly hung up on you, but just because I'm not trying to take her off you doesn't mean I'm not going to have her back."

Nathan didn't stop to think how much Haley would hate him for it, or the fact that they were in a crowded place. He didn't wonder what the repercussions would be or hear Haley screaming his name as his fist moved forward and Skills reeled back clutching his cheek. It was only after that he looked at Haley, her mouth hung open as Tim wrestled him away and Mouth stood between him and Skills, who was clearly looking ready to punch back, that he realised what he'd done, not just in the moment, but to his relationship with Haley. He opened his mouth to apologise, but she shook her head.

"Just go home, Nathan." She said quietly, moving away from her boyfriend and over to her friend, her fingers reaching up and tentatively touching his cheek bone. "Are you okay?"

Nathan felt his heart break as Haley tended to the other boy's wounds. How could he have been so stupid? How had Haley wanting to have a night out with her friends turned into this? Him being escorted out of the building by security while she left with another boy. He should have just stayed home.

........

"I am, so, so sorry," Haley said for what felt like the millionth time, but not nearly enough as she sat in her kitchen with Skills holding an ice pack to his face after they'd dropped Mouth home, their night having come to an abrupt early end. "I don't know what came over him."

"Came over him? This is what he's like Haley." The injured boy gave her a pointed look as he took the icepack from her hands and held it to himself.

"It's not." She promised, although it sounded wrong to her own ears to be defending Nathan to a friend he'd just hit for calling her something he'd been calling her for years. "He's just..."

"Jealous." Skills supplied, and Haley shrugged.

"I guess." Nathan Scott being jealous over her had baffled her enough earlier, Nathan Scott being jealous enough over her to hit one of her best friend just plain scared her, and yet still gave her the warm fuzzies. "God I'm in way over my head."

"Most things are." Skills joked, standing up and getting some juice out of the fridge, feeling as at home in her house as he did his own. "He's bad news James."

"He's not. I promise he's not like that with me normally. He's just going through a lot, and.." If someone had said that to her, she'd probably suggest that if they were going through so much stuff that they went around punching people maybe that person should be sorting out their own head before they were with someone else, but the idea of not being with Nathan made Haley feel sicker than all the chocolate had a short while earlier.

"So it's okay for him to hit me?" Haley shook her head. Her friendship with Skills was so important to her and she didn't want this

"Of course it's not, I'm not saying that at all it's just..."

"You love him." Leaning back against the James' kitchen counter, he gave her a knowing look.

"Noooo, I don't love him," Haley denied, looking down and shaking her head rapidly, although lately she'd spent nights tossing, wondering if she did, even though her mind told her it was way too fast for that to be the case. "But I do care about him and this is all new to him, Skills. I know what we all used to say about him, but you've got to admit he's changed, really he has, you have to see that! I don't know what came over him tonight and I am so so sorry."

"What happened was he thought you were going to jump into bed with me or Mouth because you had a night away from him."

"What? Why would he think that? I'm not even sleeping with him!" Haley cried. She admitted Nathan had a jealous streak but it didn't stretch so far as to be suspicious of her. She knew that much.

"You're not?" Her friend's shocked looked caused Haley to pout, taking offence.

"Of course I'm not, We've only been together a couple of months, Skills, god!" She shook her head. If her friends thought they were having sex, what about everyone else? "Do people really think I'm sleeping with him?

"Well, he's stopped hooking up with half the school so yeah, probably."

"Unbelievable! I can't believe you Skills." She jumped up from the stool she was sitting on and started furiously cleaning the already tidy kitchen around him, a trait they both knew meant she was nervous. "Of course I'm not sleeping with him! I thought you knew me better than that!"

"You say he's changed since he's been with you, Haley, but so have you."

She stopped her scrubbing to look over at him, narrowing her eyes in question. "How have i?"

"You never hang out with us anymore, you skip school, and when you do come in you have a hangover."

"I only ONCE came into school with a hangover." She justified, knowing it was a meek response because he was right, those weren't things Haley James of 6 months ago would do.

".....You defend guys who punch me for having your back."

She gnawed at her lower lip, tears filling her eyes. She can't deny him that one. She never would have done that before, her friends were the most important thing in her life, their enemies were her enemies, protecting them was par for the course, and now she'd brought someone to Skills who'd hurt him. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey baby girl," he walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her, "it's not your fault."

"It is," She smiled through her tears at the familiar term of endearment that had been the catalyst to this big mess, "I mean yes Nathan is responsible for his own actions but you're right, we haven't hung out in forever and, when we do, this happens. I'm so sorry."

"Hey look." He hugged her tightly before stepping away so he could look in her eyes. " He's crazy for you – who could blame him?"

She laughed and wiped a tear from her eye. He'd always been able to put a smile on her face. He was the first boy who wasn't related to her that told her she was pretty.

"And you know what? I'm not even gonna deck him back if you don't want me to. If you say he's a good guy I trust you, but he better be Haley, because you're a good girl."

"He treats me well," She promised "and I just know he's disgusted with how he acted today. Please believe me."

"Hey, when have I ever doubted you?"

"Never" Guilt built up inside of her, these boys were her friends, her family and she'd been so wrapped up in Nathan she hadn't spent any time with them lately at all. "It's not his fault you know?"

"What?"

"That I've been a bad friend lately.." She looked down at the floor, not wanting to see it confirmed in her eyes no matter how much she knew it to be true.

"You haven't.."

"I have, and I know you've probably all been cussing Nathan out for it, but it's not. I'll admit I've become all crushed out, like those stupid girls I spent years making fun of, but I can't help it." She sat back down, resting her head in her hands as she sighed, feeling more pathetic as she listened to her words, but knowing that it simply was the truth. She was so wrapped up in Nathan she'd forgotten most of her friends. "I want you to know the Nathan I know, not this one, this one so like the boy he was last year. I don't want you guys to see him that way anymore."

"Kinda hard." Skills motioned to his bruised face and Haley nodded, tears falling onto her own cheeks.

"Can you just trust me? Trust me he'll come to you and apologise."

"I don't want his forced apologies."

"No, not forced, of his own accord," She looked up at him, determination shining from her soulful orbs. "I just know he's already planning on saying sorry, which maybe doesn't make up for it, but is a really big deal for him. Please give him another chance, please."

He sighed. He'd never been able to deny Haley anything, none of the rivercourt boys had, especially when she cried. Haley James was definitely their weakness.

........

It had been about two hours since Skills had left, and even after an hour of soaking in the tub Haley still couldn't sleep. Nathan had called her numerous times but she wasn't ready to talk to him. She wasn't ready to tell him it was fine, to let him off the hook for throwing a right hook at her friend's face, and she wasn't ready to admit to herself what she already knew, that despite what the strong headed independent girl in her was screaming to do, she wouldn't be breaking up with him for doing as such, that she already couldn't face the idea of him not being in her life.

"Haley, let me in." She blinked at first, not sure if she was actually hearing what she was hearing, before a thump on her window followed it up. "Haley!"

Tentatively she slipped out from between her sheets, placing Mr. Waffles on her desk as she pulled the curtains back, her boyfriend's face appearing before her.

"Finally!" He cried when she opened the window and he somehow managed to gracefully climb through it. "I've been out there for ten minutes."

"Well you should have used the door like a normal person then shouldn't you!" She snapped, instantly annoyed at him now that he was before her. How dare he hit her friends? How dare he!

"Ah, but the door wouldn't make such a romantic gesture." He offered her up the rose in his hand and winked.

"Is that from my Mom's rose bush? Because she will have something to say about that."

"Your Mom loves me, it's fine." He smiled smugly, reaching out to touch her but she pulled away. "Look, Hales, I'm sorry..."

"It's not me you should be apologising to."

"I know," and he did know, he'd even tried to find out where Skills lived so he could go by and apologise before coming over to Haley's, but they didn't exactly have friends in common, well except for the girl that stood before him. "I'm an idiot."

"Uh, yeah," She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. He slinked back. He'd already spent the evening at home, ridiculing himself for the way he'd behaved. He didn't understand the feelings that had come over him at the movie theatre. He'd never felt that way before, never understood when guys had said they'd hit some guy for looking at or touching their girlfriend, but then Haley had come into his life and the idea of anyone else laying claim to her terrified him. It was bad enough he had Lucas to contend with, and he wasn't quite sure he believed the whole platonic friendship thing there, unable to comprehend any male having Haley in their life and not wanting her to be theirs.

"Hales, I wish earlier hadn't happened."

"A bit too late to be wishing." She sat back on her bed and looked over at him, still on his knees from his climb into her room, looking over at her, begging her with his eyes to listen to him. "You told me you didn't want to be that guy anymore, Nathan."

"And I don't," He assured her, in fact the thing that teared him up the most about letting his emotions get the better of him was knowing he was letting Haley down and breaking his promise to her to be better than that. "Tomorrow I'm going to apologise to Skills. I was an idiot, and I'll say so in front of the whole school as long as you don't give up on me Haley, don't give up on us."

"I'm not giving up on us," she ran a hand through her hair, licking at her lips as she struggled with her internal battle, "don't think it didn't cross my mind, Nathan, because I'm not the type of girl who's going to put up with you going around hitting people, especially not my friends..."

He moved toward her, his heart finally back to a normal rhythm now that he'd heard her say they weren't over. "I'm an idiot, Haley, I can't say it enough times because we both know it's true. I made a huge mistake, I just, I've never felt that way over a girl before."

"What way?" Her voice was timid and shy, and suddenly felt incredibly out of her depth in her darkened bedroom in an empty house with her very experienced boyfriend.

"Jealous, you have me completely twisted, Haley James."

"Well," She joked, as was her tendency when she was uncomfortable. "Who could blame you."

"You're telling me." He leaned forward to kiss her, but she stopped him.

"My friends are important to me, Nathan."

"I know that.."

"Do you? Really? Because I risked so much to be in this relationship with you. Lucas is more than my best friend, he's like," She let out a small laugh at how ironic her next words would be, "a brother to me, but the rest of the guys, they are my best friends, my only friends really. I'm not like you, I don't have tons of acquaintances who let me get away with whatever I like and still crave my attention. My friends, they know me, and they want to spend time with me, the real me. Not the me whose head is with my boyfriend on the other side of town, wondering what he's doing and if he's thinking about me..."

"Generally you can answer yourself yes on that one." He butted in, answering reluctantly. She might have thought she'd never be the girl always thinking about her boyfriend, but he never thought he'd be that guy either.

"My friends aren't a threat to us, okay? If Lucas can deal with you and me being together, the others certainly can."

"But the way that guy was looking at you..." He regretted it as soon as the words left his lips, knew the last thing he should be doing is accusing her friends of anything.

"He was looking at me because he was worried about me, because Nathan, the me he saw tonight isn't the me he knows. Letting you butt in on our buddy time, and forcing me to sit away from them, and keeping quiet through the whole movie instead of giving my opinion every five minutes. They're just my friends, Nathan, they don't see me like you see me, they don't want me like you want me. They just want to spend time with me. Hang out with me like they have since we were kids, and I want that too. Don't you want to spend time with your friends."

"I don't really have friends," Nathan shrugged, "Not like that."

"You have Tim." Haley pointed out. "Sure he's annoying sometimes, but he cares about you, and I don't mean in the way half the basketball team jokes. He's a real friend, Nathan. Do you know he's moved seats in the study hall we share so he can sit by me? Just so he can ask how I am, how things are going with us, to ask how you are since he barely sees you these days. He's not even trying to make me feel guilty, he just genuinely wants to check in with you, and he figures I'm his best bet at the moment."

"Yeah," Guilt choked at Nathan. Tim might have the tendency to be an idiot but he was his best friend, he'd been with him through a lot over the years and maybe he had been neglecting their friendship to spend time with Haley, and like a good friend there Tim was, not holding it against him. "I can't help it if I want to spend time with you, Hales."

"And I want to spend time you with you." She smiled, cupping his cheek in her hands. "and I'm not telling you not to because I would go mad without talking to you every day. You're kinda stuck with me now,"

"I'm not complaining." He leaned forward for the second time that night and this time she allowed him to bring their lips together, and they shared a sweet soft kiss.

"I'm still mad you." She spoke up as their lips parted, having to let him know he didn't get away with it that easily, "You have some major sucking up to do."

He attached his lips to her neck and sucked lightly. "I'll start right now."

She pushed him away, unable to stop that damn girlish giggle she got around him lilting into the air. "I meant with Skills."

"Well I'm not kissing him," he screwed his face in mock disgust and she rolled her eyes.

"I mean it, Nathan."

"I know you do," He nodded, and he did too. He wanted to make it up to her and to her friend for what a jackass he'd been tonight. "I'm going to talk to him tomorrow."

"Good." The sincerity behind his words was easy to hear and it warmed her heart that he obviously did regret what he'd done earlier, a sign of what she already knew...that he was changing and growing and becoming the type of person he, so far, only seemed to care to be with her, for the rest of the world to see.

"But until then, what do you say we take advantage of your parents being out of town?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her and that damn giggle fell from her lips again as he laid her down on the bed, half lying on top of her as his face lingered above hers. "See how much easier today would have been if you'd just taken me up on this offer earlier?"

She shoved weakly at his shoulders, not wanting to lose the happy place of his weight on top of hers, but wanting to let him know it was all too soon to joke about tonight's antics, whispering her next words against his lips before pressing hers fully against them. "Not funny."


End file.
